ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment that restores $16,047 to the participants in Craftsmen Custom Cabinets Inc.’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, the judgment issued by Judge Marvin Shoob requires that Barry Pugh and his wife, Cynthia Pugh, restore the funds and that none of the restored funds shall be allocated to the accounts of either of the defendants.

The Pughs were owners of the custom woodworking company and fiduciaries of the company’s SIMPLE IRA Plan.

The department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration alleged that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by diverting funds intended for the company’s pension plan to its daily operations.

“Employees contributed to this pension plan with the intention of having these funds available for their retirement, and the Labor Department is pleased that we were able to restore access to the funds for the benefit of plan participants,” said Isabel Colon, acting regional director of EBSA in Atlanta.

The defendants have agreed to allow any participant interest they may have in existing or future assets of the plan to be applied as an offset against the amounts that are due to the plan. The agreement also permanently bars the defendants from serving as fiduciaries for any plan subject to ERISA in the future.

Craftsmen Custom Cabinets Inc. was based in Sugar Hill, Ga.

This case was investigated by the EBSA Atlanta Regional Office. It was litigated by the Labor Department’s Atlanta Regional Solicitor’s Office. Employers and workers can contact EBSA at 404-302-3900 or toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans. For more information, visit www.dol.gov/ebsa.

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.